How Valuable are Antimicrobials for Pig Production? An Econometric Analysis

This study analyzes the economic consequences of reduced antimicrobial use for Danish pig producers. From estimated profit functions, shadow prices of antimicrobials were derived for different groups of farms. Results suggest that the average pig farmer's access to antimicrobials represents an economic value of around 1.75-4 euro cents for the marginal standard unit dose in the short run on farms with both systematically high and low antimicrobial use but a lower value in the long run, with considerable heterogeneity among farms. Restrictions on antimicrobial use in pig production are likely to imply losses to parts of the Danish pig sector.